Blocks from the White House, US students stand steadfast with Gaza
Palestine solidarity encampment springs up at George Washington University despite crackdown and arrests across US.
By Ali Harb
Published On 25 Apr 2024
Washington, DC – Chants of “free Palestine” were interrupted by ululating and cheers as dozens of Georgetown University students arrived at a protest at the neighbouring George Washington University (GW) campus in the heart of the US capital city.
Students, professors and activists from across the Washington, DC, area gathered on Thursday to show solidarity with Palestinians amid the war on Gaza and demand an end to what they call their colleges’ complicity in Israel’s human rights abuses.
KEEP READING
Students at GW had set up a protest encampment on campus, joining the pro-Palestinian demonstrations sweeping colleges across the country.
“We’re here to show support for the students at GW and also to raise the demands of all the students in DC, which are to divest from companies that are involved in weapons manufacturing and Israeli apartheid, and to cut ties with Israeli universities because of their complicity in the Israeli genocide in Palestine,” Anna Wessels, a Georgetown student, told Al Jazeera.
The GW encampment brought college protests that have gripped the country to a campus that is blocks away from the White House and the Department of State.
Wessels stressed the significance of the protests taking place in the seat of the federal US government, where President Joe Biden approved $26bn in aid to Israel days ago.
“If we weren’t doing anything in DC, then we’re not living up to our moral responsibility,” Wessels said.
‘This is about Gaza’
Several students and organisers told Al Jazeera on Thursday that they remained focused on Gaza and Palestine, where the Israeli military has killed more than 34,000 people, and mass graves continue to be discovered.
“This entire encampment was made with every single messaging to be around the genocide in Gaza and to revolve around centring all of the demands on Gaza,” said Mimi Ziad, an activist with the Palestinian Youth Movement.
“This isn’t about the students. This is about Gaza. This is about all of Palestine.”
Students draped in keffiyehs had congregated on a GW grass lawn dotted with tents around a statue of George Washington, the first American president.
“George Washington says free Palestine,” read a paper sign that was taped to the statue.
The protesters raised their voices in unison to the beats of a drum in support of Palestinians, condemning Israel for its violations.
“The students, united, will never be defeated,” they chanted, as Palestinian flags waved alongside signs calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
Student organisers, sporting yellow and pink vests, directed foot traffic within the demonstration and handed bottles of water to people.
“It feels great to be around other people who see the reality we see and who share the outrage and frustration and also share the energy to solve the problem,” said Elliott Colla, a Georgetown faculty member who joined the protest at GW.
Several demonstrators said pushing universities to divest from Israel can have a tangible effect on the conflict, as boycotts of South Africa helped end the apartheid system in the early 1990s.
College activism around Gaza has taken centre stage in US politics in recent days.
A Palestine solidarity encampment at Columbia University in New York faced a police crackdown and arrests last week as the college administration called on law enforcement to clear the protest. The university has now set a Friday deadline for the protest to disband.
But students continued to demonstrate. Their campaign spread to other colleges across the country, including the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), Boston’s Emerson College, Georgia’s Emory University and the University of Southern California (USC), with dozens of students also arrested at the institutions.
Anti-Semitism accusations
Pro-Israel politicians from both major parties have been condemning the protesters and accusing them of anti-Semitism – a charge that Palestinian rights activists reject.
On Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson visited the Columbia campus and accused the protesters of intimidating and threatening Jewish students. He also suggested withholding funding to universities that allow pro-Palestinian protests.
“If these campuses cannot get control of this problem, they do not deserve taxpayer dollars,” Johnson, who was met with “Mike, you suck!” chants, said.
But student protesters across the country have condemned anti-Semitism, noting that many of the demonstrators are themselves Jewish. Donia, a protester at GW, said such accusations of anti-Semitism are hurting the fight against bigotry.
“When you’re accusing anyone who’s against genocide in Gaza of being anti-Semitic, you’re losing the actual meaning of the movement against anti-Semitism,” Donia, who chose to be identified by her first name only out of fear of reprisal, told Al Jazeera.
She added that pro-Israel advocates were “freaking out” and trying to repress the student movement with anti-Semitism allegations because they know it is effective.
“A lot of the future generation of politicians in this country are at these universities, and they’re not buying their lies any more. That’s what’s really scaring them,” Donia said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu weighed on the protests on Wednesday, calling them horrific. “Anti-Semitic mobs have taken over leading universities,” he said.
His remarks prompted a rebuke from progressive US Senator Bernie Sanders, who is Jewish.
“No, Mr Netanyahu. It is not anti-Semitic or pro-Hamas to point out that in a little over six months your extremist government has killed 34,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 77,000 – 70 percent of whom are women and children,” Sanders said in a statement on Thursday.
‘How can I be afraid?’
Zaid Abu-Abbas, an 18-year-old GW student, said the protesters are simply calling for the rights of Palestinians to be protected, dismissing accusations of anti-Semitism as bogus.
He said he was encouraged by the turnout at the protest, expressing hope that the student-led demonstrations can bring about change beyond campus.
“We are in DC near all these government buildings and politicians; they have no other choice but to see what we’re doing,” Abu-Abbas told Al Jazeera.
The joyous atmosphere at GW on Thursday drew a stark contrast with footage of violent arrests at other campuses.
However, students interviewed by Al Jazeera played down the prospect of a law enforcement push to clear the encampment.
Ziad, the Palestinian Youth Movement activist, said she is worried about the students, but she herself is not scared. “How can I be afraid if I’m Palestinian?”
Students at George Washington University [GWU] set up tent encampment, demanding end to Israel's war on Gaza and that their university divest from academic institutions, weapons and business firms tied to Tel Aviv.
AFP
Protest placard hangs from a statue of George Washington during a pro-Palestine student protest at George Washington University in Washington, DC / Photo: AFP
Young protesters from across the US capital have banded together to form a pro-Palestine encampment less than a kilometre from the White House to demand their schools condemn Israel's onslaught in besieged Gaza and divest from businesses and defence firms tied to Israel — part of wider Student Spring demonstrations that began at Columbia University last week and have now become a nationwide movement.
The encampment on Thursday saw students from Georgetown University and George Washington University form a sit-in on the latter's University Yard, which is just over three blocks from the White House.
Hundreds of students walked out of classes at Georgetown. A smaller group consisting of dozens of protesters then marched from the Catholic university to the encampment site.
Demonstrators waved Palestinian flags, beat drums and chanted slogans. Despite a robust police presence on the edges of the encampment, there were no serious incidents.
One pro-Israel counter-protester was removed from the area by police. Three officers led the demonstrator away as he held a small Israeli flag between his hands.
It is unclear if students from four other major universities in Washington, DC — Howard University, American University, Gallaudet University and the University of the District of Columbia — have joined the demonstration.
TRT World's Selina Downes, reporting from the protest site, said: "Protesters say they are going to remain here on campus until their demands are met, although campus security has said they have to vacate by 7 pm this evening."
A protester, Moataz Salim, who is from besieged Gaza, told TRT World that he feels he has a duty to do everything he can to support Palestine.
"It [protesters demand] started off with a permanent ceasefire, I don't think that's enough anymore, we need an end to the occupation, and we need a free Palestine," he told TRT World.
"It's clear the world leaders, especially here in the US and Western nations, will not hold them accountable, so it's up to us, the people, to do everything we can whether to disrupt, confront politicians, or to say we're here, you're not going to get rid of us. You're going to divest [from Israel]."
Taking a shot at GWU, Salim said: "We know the university has a history of suppressing Palestinian speech. Whenever they send out emails from the president or dean of students, they refuse to mention the word Palestine; that's how absurd it's gotten."
"They always refer to it as the Israel-Hamas war; it's not war; it's an occupation, a siege and a genocide on the innocent civilians in Gaza, many of whom are my family members."
Protests across universities
The protestors are demanding that their universities divest from all relations with Israel and lift a suspension against a prominent pro-Palestinian student group.
Dayna Bowen Matthew, dean of the law school, released a video message saying that law school finals, which were set to be held in a building next to the protest encampment, would be moved to another building because of the noise.
The university released a statement saying that peaceful demonstrations were permitted; however, people not associated with the university were not allowed to protest on campus.
The statement also said that overnight encampments were not allowed on university property and the protesters "will be required to remove tents and disperse" by 7 pm.
Also, in the area known as DMV, in neighbouring Maryland, students protested at the University of Maryland on Wednesday, where they also set up encampments.
Protests and encampments have sprung up at universities from coast to coast, including at Columbia University, and New York University and Yale — both of which also saw dozens of students arrested earlier this week — Harvard, Brown University, MIT, the University of Michigan and elsewhere.
Protests have also been held at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, University of Minnesota — Twin Cities, Swarthmore College and the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, the University of Rochester in New York, Tufts University and Emerson College in Massachusetts.
Dozens were arrested on Wednesday at the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Southern California, and the University of Minnesota.
Palestine solidarity encampment springs up at George Washington University despite crackdown and arrests across US.
Student protesters gather at the George Washington University campus, April 25, 2024 [Ali Harb/Al Jazeera]
By Ali Harb
Published On 25 Apr 2024
Washington, DC – Chants of “free Palestine” were interrupted by ululating and cheers as dozens of Georgetown University students arrived at a protest at the neighbouring George Washington University (GW) campus in the heart of the US capital city.
Students, professors and activists from across the Washington, DC, area gathered on Thursday to show solidarity with Palestinians amid the war on Gaza and demand an end to what they call their colleges’ complicity in Israel’s human rights abuses.
KEEP READING
Students at GW had set up a protest encampment on campus, joining the pro-Palestinian demonstrations sweeping colleges across the country.
“We’re here to show support for the students at GW and also to raise the demands of all the students in DC, which are to divest from companies that are involved in weapons manufacturing and Israeli apartheid, and to cut ties with Israeli universities because of their complicity in the Israeli genocide in Palestine,” Anna Wessels, a Georgetown student, told Al Jazeera.
The GW encampment brought college protests that have gripped the country to a campus that is blocks away from the White House and the Department of State.
Wessels stressed the significance of the protests taking place in the seat of the federal US government, where President Joe Biden approved $26bn in aid to Israel days ago.
“If we weren’t doing anything in DC, then we’re not living up to our moral responsibility,” Wessels said.
‘This is about Gaza’
Several students and organisers told Al Jazeera on Thursday that they remained focused on Gaza and Palestine, where the Israeli military has killed more than 34,000 people, and mass graves continue to be discovered.
“This entire encampment was made with every single messaging to be around the genocide in Gaza and to revolve around centring all of the demands on Gaza,” said Mimi Ziad, an activist with the Palestinian Youth Movement.
“This isn’t about the students. This is about Gaza. This is about all of Palestine.”
Students draped in keffiyehs had congregated on a GW grass lawn dotted with tents around a statue of George Washington, the first American president.
“George Washington says free Palestine,” read a paper sign that was taped to the statue.
The protesters raised their voices in unison to the beats of a drum in support of Palestinians, condemning Israel for its violations.
“The students, united, will never be defeated,” they chanted, as Palestinian flags waved alongside signs calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
Student organisers, sporting yellow and pink vests, directed foot traffic within the demonstration and handed bottles of water to people.
“It feels great to be around other people who see the reality we see and who share the outrage and frustration and also share the energy to solve the problem,” said Elliott Colla, a Georgetown faculty member who joined the protest at GW.
Several demonstrators said pushing universities to divest from Israel can have a tangible effect on the conflict, as boycotts of South Africa helped end the apartheid system in the early 1990s.
College activism around Gaza has taken centre stage in US politics in recent days.
A Palestine solidarity encampment at Columbia University in New York faced a police crackdown and arrests last week as the college administration called on law enforcement to clear the protest. The university has now set a Friday deadline for the protest to disband.
But students continued to demonstrate. Their campaign spread to other colleges across the country, including the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), Boston’s Emerson College, Georgia’s Emory University and the University of Southern California (USC), with dozens of students also arrested at the institutions.
Protesters are demanding that their universities withdraw investments from companies linked to arming the Israeli military [Ali Harb/Al Jazeera]
Anti-Semitism accusations
Pro-Israel politicians from both major parties have been condemning the protesters and accusing them of anti-Semitism – a charge that Palestinian rights activists reject.
On Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson visited the Columbia campus and accused the protesters of intimidating and threatening Jewish students. He also suggested withholding funding to universities that allow pro-Palestinian protests.
“If these campuses cannot get control of this problem, they do not deserve taxpayer dollars,” Johnson, who was met with “Mike, you suck!” chants, said.
But student protesters across the country have condemned anti-Semitism, noting that many of the demonstrators are themselves Jewish. Donia, a protester at GW, said such accusations of anti-Semitism are hurting the fight against bigotry.
“When you’re accusing anyone who’s against genocide in Gaza of being anti-Semitic, you’re losing the actual meaning of the movement against anti-Semitism,” Donia, who chose to be identified by her first name only out of fear of reprisal, told Al Jazeera.
She added that pro-Israel advocates were “freaking out” and trying to repress the student movement with anti-Semitism allegations because they know it is effective.
“A lot of the future generation of politicians in this country are at these universities, and they’re not buying their lies any more. That’s what’s really scaring them,” Donia said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu weighed on the protests on Wednesday, calling them horrific. “Anti-Semitic mobs have taken over leading universities,” he said.
His remarks prompted a rebuke from progressive US Senator Bernie Sanders, who is Jewish.
“No, Mr Netanyahu. It is not anti-Semitic or pro-Hamas to point out that in a little over six months your extremist government has killed 34,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 77,000 – 70 percent of whom are women and children,” Sanders said in a statement on Thursday.
‘How can I be afraid?’
Zaid Abu-Abbas, an 18-year-old GW student, said the protesters are simply calling for the rights of Palestinians to be protected, dismissing accusations of anti-Semitism as bogus.
He said he was encouraged by the turnout at the protest, expressing hope that the student-led demonstrations can bring about change beyond campus.
“We are in DC near all these government buildings and politicians; they have no other choice but to see what we’re doing,” Abu-Abbas told Al Jazeera.
The joyous atmosphere at GW on Thursday drew a stark contrast with footage of violent arrests at other campuses.
However, students interviewed by Al Jazeera played down the prospect of a law enforcement push to clear the encampment.
Ziad, the Palestinian Youth Movement activist, said she is worried about the students, but she herself is not scared. “How can I be afraid if I’m Palestinian?”
Student Spring protesters at GWU demand 'divesment' from Israel
Students at George Washington University [GWU] set up tent encampment, demanding end to Israel's war on Gaza and that their university divest from academic institutions, weapons and business firms tied to Tel Aviv.
AFP
Protest placard hangs from a statue of George Washington during a pro-Palestine student protest at George Washington University in Washington, DC / Photo: AFP
Young protesters from across the US capital have banded together to form a pro-Palestine encampment less than a kilometre from the White House to demand their schools condemn Israel's onslaught in besieged Gaza and divest from businesses and defence firms tied to Israel — part of wider Student Spring demonstrations that began at Columbia University last week and have now become a nationwide movement.
The encampment on Thursday saw students from Georgetown University and George Washington University form a sit-in on the latter's University Yard, which is just over three blocks from the White House.
Hundreds of students walked out of classes at Georgetown. A smaller group consisting of dozens of protesters then marched from the Catholic university to the encampment site.
Demonstrators waved Palestinian flags, beat drums and chanted slogans. Despite a robust police presence on the edges of the encampment, there were no serious incidents.
One pro-Israel counter-protester was removed from the area by police. Three officers led the demonstrator away as he held a small Israeli flag between his hands.
It is unclear if students from four other major universities in Washington, DC — Howard University, American University, Gallaudet University and the University of the District of Columbia — have joined the demonstration.
TRT World's Selina Downes, reporting from the protest site, said: "Protesters say they are going to remain here on campus until their demands are met, although campus security has said they have to vacate by 7 pm this evening."
A protester, Moataz Salim, who is from besieged Gaza, told TRT World that he feels he has a duty to do everything he can to support Palestine.
"It [protesters demand] started off with a permanent ceasefire, I don't think that's enough anymore, we need an end to the occupation, and we need a free Palestine," he told TRT World.
"It's clear the world leaders, especially here in the US and Western nations, will not hold them accountable, so it's up to us, the people, to do everything we can whether to disrupt, confront politicians, or to say we're here, you're not going to get rid of us. You're going to divest [from Israel]."
Taking a shot at GWU, Salim said: "We know the university has a history of suppressing Palestinian speech. Whenever they send out emails from the president or dean of students, they refuse to mention the word Palestine; that's how absurd it's gotten."
"They always refer to it as the Israel-Hamas war; it's not war; it's an occupation, a siege and a genocide on the innocent civilians in Gaza, many of whom are my family members."
Protests across universities
The protestors are demanding that their universities divest from all relations with Israel and lift a suspension against a prominent pro-Palestinian student group.
Dayna Bowen Matthew, dean of the law school, released a video message saying that law school finals, which were set to be held in a building next to the protest encampment, would be moved to another building because of the noise.
The university released a statement saying that peaceful demonstrations were permitted; however, people not associated with the university were not allowed to protest on campus.
The statement also said that overnight encampments were not allowed on university property and the protesters "will be required to remove tents and disperse" by 7 pm.
Also, in the area known as DMV, in neighbouring Maryland, students protested at the University of Maryland on Wednesday, where they also set up encampments.
Protests and encampments have sprung up at universities from coast to coast, including at Columbia University, and New York University and Yale — both of which also saw dozens of students arrested earlier this week — Harvard, Brown University, MIT, the University of Michigan and elsewhere.
Protests have also been held at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, University of Minnesota — Twin Cities, Swarthmore College and the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, the University of Rochester in New York, Tufts University and Emerson College in Massachusetts.
Dozens were arrested on Wednesday at the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Southern California, and the University of Minnesota.
Student Spring protests: A look at anti-war dissent on eminent US campuses
From Columbia to Harvard and beyond, protests surge as universities and police confront freshmen, sophomores, junior and senior students, and academic staff protesting Israel's war on Gaza and calling on universities to cut ties with Israel.
AFP
Students chant during a pro-Palestine protest against Israeli war in Gaza at Emory University on April 25, 2024, in Atlanta, Georgia. / Photo: AFP
Student protests over Israel's brutal war in Gaza have popped up on an increasing number of college and university campuses across the length and breadth of the US following last week's arrest of more than 100 demonstrators at the prestigious Columbia University.
The students — in many of these impromptu nationwide demonstrations — are calling for universities to separate themselves from any companies that are advancing Israel's military invasion in Gaza — and in some cases from Israel itself.
Here is a look at protests on major US academic campuses:
Columbia University
Pro-Palestinian student protesters set up a tent encampment at the Ivy League university in New York last week. Police first tried to clear the encampment on Thursday, when they arrested more than 100 protesters.
But the move backfired, acting as an inspiration for other students across the country and motivating protesters at Columbia to regroup.
University officials said early on Wednesday that they were extending a deadline for protesters to clear out. They said the demonstrators had committed to removing a significant number of tents and agreed that only students would remain at the encampment.
They also said they would make the encampment more welcoming by banning any discriminatory language or harassing messages. The encampment on the upper Manhattan campus appeared calm on Wednesday morning.
The University of Texas, Austin
The University of Texas campus was calm on Thursday, a day after a demonstration saw police and state troopers in riot gear and on horseback make dozens of arrests and forced hundreds of students off the school’s main lawn.
On Thursday, university officials pulled back the campus barricades and allowed another demonstration on the main square underneath the school’s iconic clock tower in central campus.
While the group was vocal with chants and angry shouts against Israel and campus leadership, the demonstration was far less volatile. No violence erupted as a small group of campus police watched from the steps of the tower building. The gathering lasted about two hours.
George Washington University
Scores of students at George Washington University set up a tent encampment on the school’s University Yard on Thursday.
The protest at the Washington, DC-based school grew steadily through the morning, with demonstrators waving Palestinian flags, beating drums and chanting slogans.
Later in the day, a group of Georgetown University students and professors staged a protest walkout and marched to the George Washington campus to join up with the protesters there.
Despite a robust police presence on the edges of the encampment, there were no serious incidents.
The protestors are demanding that the university divest from all relations with Israel and lift a suspension against a prominent pro-Palestine student group.
The university released a statement saying that peaceful demonstrations were permitted, however people not associated with the university were not allowed to protest on campus. The statement also said that overnight encampments were not allowed on university property.
University of Southern California
Police removed several tents, then got into a back-and-forth tent tugging match with pro-Palestine protesters before falling back at the USC.
At one point, USC police detained a man and put him in a vehicle. A crowd surrounded the car and chanted “Let him go!” and the officers eventually did so.
The Los Angeles Police Department said more than 90 people were arrested Wednesday night during a protest at the University of Southern California.
USC has also announced that it is canceling its main-stage graduation ceremony for students, a move that follows its earlier decision to block a Muslim valedictorian's speech.
Harvard University
Trying to stay ahead of protests, Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, locked most gates into its famous Harvard Yard ahead of classes and limited access to those with school identification.
The school also posted signs warning against setting up tents or tables on campus without permission.
Those efforts didn’t stop protesters from setting up a camp with tents on Wednesday, which came after a rally against the university’s suspension of the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee.
California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt
Student protesters at Humboldt chanted, "We are not afraid of you!" before police officers in riot gear pushed into them at the building's entrance.
University officials closed the campus through this weekend, saying instruction would continue to be remote. They said in a statement that students had occupied a second building and three students had been arrested.
Humboldt is located about 480 kilometres north of San Francisco.
On Thursday, the university said protesters continued to occupy the two buildings on campus and it was making contingency plans, including possibly keeping campus closed beyond Sunday.
Emerson College
Boston Police said on Thursday that more than 100 protesters were arrested at an encampment at Emerson College. Those arrested were expected to appear in Boston Municipal Court.
On Tuesday, about 80 students and other supporters at Emerson College occupied a busy courtyard on the downtown Boston campus.
College officials warned the students on Wednesday that some of the protesters were in violation of city ordinances, including by blocking a right-of-way and fire hydrants, and violating noise laws.
New York University
At New York University, an encampment set up by students swelled to hundreds of protesters earlier this week.
Police on Wednesday said that 133 protesters had been taken into custody. They said all were released with summonses to appear in court on disorderly conduct charges.
Emory University
Atlanta police and Georgia state troopers dismantled a camp on Emory University’s quadrangle Thursday morning, with Associated Press journalists counting at least 17 people detained.
University police had ordered several dozen demonstrators who set up tents on the campus early on Thursday morning to leave, according to Emory spokeswoman Laura Diamond. She said in an email to The Associated Press that the group “trespassed” onto the private school.
A long line of officers surrounded the encampment of about three dozen tents after 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, as protesters chanted slogans supporting Palestinians and opposing a public safety training centre being built in Atlanta.
The two movements are closely entwined in Atlanta, where there has been years of “Stop Cop City” activism that has included a fringe of anarchist attacks on property and the killing by state troopers of a protester who was occupying the site.
Northwestern University
Northwestern University hastily changed its student code of conduct on Thursday morning to bar tents on its suburban Chicago campus as anti-war student activists set up an encampment similar to pro-Palestinian demonstrations at colleges nationwide.
Groups including Jewish Voice for Peace and Educators for Justice in Palestine said the encampment on the Evanston campus was "a safe space for those who want to show their support of the Palestinian people." The students want the university to divest from Israel, among other things.
Yale University
Protests continued Thursday at Yale on Thursday. This follows arrests on Monday when 48 people, including 44 students were charged with trespassing after camping out for several days on Beinecke Plaza.
Classes for the semester at the New Haven, Connecticut-based school are scheduled to end on Friday..
SOURCE: AP
From Columbia to Harvard and beyond, protests surge as universities and police confront freshmen, sophomores, junior and senior students, and academic staff protesting Israel's war on Gaza and calling on universities to cut ties with Israel.
AFP
Students chant during a pro-Palestine protest against Israeli war in Gaza at Emory University on April 25, 2024, in Atlanta, Georgia. / Photo: AFP
Student protests over Israel's brutal war in Gaza have popped up on an increasing number of college and university campuses across the length and breadth of the US following last week's arrest of more than 100 demonstrators at the prestigious Columbia University.
The students — in many of these impromptu nationwide demonstrations — are calling for universities to separate themselves from any companies that are advancing Israel's military invasion in Gaza — and in some cases from Israel itself.
Here is a look at protests on major US academic campuses:
Columbia University
Pro-Palestinian student protesters set up a tent encampment at the Ivy League university in New York last week. Police first tried to clear the encampment on Thursday, when they arrested more than 100 protesters.
But the move backfired, acting as an inspiration for other students across the country and motivating protesters at Columbia to regroup.
University officials said early on Wednesday that they were extending a deadline for protesters to clear out. They said the demonstrators had committed to removing a significant number of tents and agreed that only students would remain at the encampment.
They also said they would make the encampment more welcoming by banning any discriminatory language or harassing messages. The encampment on the upper Manhattan campus appeared calm on Wednesday morning.
The University of Texas, Austin
The University of Texas campus was calm on Thursday, a day after a demonstration saw police and state troopers in riot gear and on horseback make dozens of arrests and forced hundreds of students off the school’s main lawn.
On Thursday, university officials pulled back the campus barricades and allowed another demonstration on the main square underneath the school’s iconic clock tower in central campus.
While the group was vocal with chants and angry shouts against Israel and campus leadership, the demonstration was far less volatile. No violence erupted as a small group of campus police watched from the steps of the tower building. The gathering lasted about two hours.
George Washington University
Scores of students at George Washington University set up a tent encampment on the school’s University Yard on Thursday.
The protest at the Washington, DC-based school grew steadily through the morning, with demonstrators waving Palestinian flags, beating drums and chanting slogans.
Later in the day, a group of Georgetown University students and professors staged a protest walkout and marched to the George Washington campus to join up with the protesters there.
Despite a robust police presence on the edges of the encampment, there were no serious incidents.
The protestors are demanding that the university divest from all relations with Israel and lift a suspension against a prominent pro-Palestine student group.
The university released a statement saying that peaceful demonstrations were permitted, however people not associated with the university were not allowed to protest on campus. The statement also said that overnight encampments were not allowed on university property.
University of Southern California
Police removed several tents, then got into a back-and-forth tent tugging match with pro-Palestine protesters before falling back at the USC.
At one point, USC police detained a man and put him in a vehicle. A crowd surrounded the car and chanted “Let him go!” and the officers eventually did so.
The Los Angeles Police Department said more than 90 people were arrested Wednesday night during a protest at the University of Southern California.
USC has also announced that it is canceling its main-stage graduation ceremony for students, a move that follows its earlier decision to block a Muslim valedictorian's speech.
Harvard University
Trying to stay ahead of protests, Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, locked most gates into its famous Harvard Yard ahead of classes and limited access to those with school identification.
The school also posted signs warning against setting up tents or tables on campus without permission.
Those efforts didn’t stop protesters from setting up a camp with tents on Wednesday, which came after a rally against the university’s suspension of the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee.
California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt
Student protesters at Humboldt chanted, "We are not afraid of you!" before police officers in riot gear pushed into them at the building's entrance.
University officials closed the campus through this weekend, saying instruction would continue to be remote. They said in a statement that students had occupied a second building and three students had been arrested.
Humboldt is located about 480 kilometres north of San Francisco.
On Thursday, the university said protesters continued to occupy the two buildings on campus and it was making contingency plans, including possibly keeping campus closed beyond Sunday.
Emerson College
Boston Police said on Thursday that more than 100 protesters were arrested at an encampment at Emerson College. Those arrested were expected to appear in Boston Municipal Court.
On Tuesday, about 80 students and other supporters at Emerson College occupied a busy courtyard on the downtown Boston campus.
College officials warned the students on Wednesday that some of the protesters were in violation of city ordinances, including by blocking a right-of-way and fire hydrants, and violating noise laws.
New York University
At New York University, an encampment set up by students swelled to hundreds of protesters earlier this week.
Police on Wednesday said that 133 protesters had been taken into custody. They said all were released with summonses to appear in court on disorderly conduct charges.
Emory University
Atlanta police and Georgia state troopers dismantled a camp on Emory University’s quadrangle Thursday morning, with Associated Press journalists counting at least 17 people detained.
University police had ordered several dozen demonstrators who set up tents on the campus early on Thursday morning to leave, according to Emory spokeswoman Laura Diamond. She said in an email to The Associated Press that the group “trespassed” onto the private school.
A long line of officers surrounded the encampment of about three dozen tents after 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, as protesters chanted slogans supporting Palestinians and opposing a public safety training centre being built in Atlanta.
The two movements are closely entwined in Atlanta, where there has been years of “Stop Cop City” activism that has included a fringe of anarchist attacks on property and the killing by state troopers of a protester who was occupying the site.
Northwestern University
Northwestern University hastily changed its student code of conduct on Thursday morning to bar tents on its suburban Chicago campus as anti-war student activists set up an encampment similar to pro-Palestinian demonstrations at colleges nationwide.
Groups including Jewish Voice for Peace and Educators for Justice in Palestine said the encampment on the Evanston campus was "a safe space for those who want to show their support of the Palestinian people." The students want the university to divest from Israel, among other things.
Yale University
Protests continued Thursday at Yale on Thursday. This follows arrests on Monday when 48 people, including 44 students were charged with trespassing after camping out for several days on Beinecke Plaza.
Classes for the semester at the New Haven, Connecticut-based school are scheduled to end on Friday..
SOURCE: AP
U.S. University protests over Israel-Hamas war in Gaza lead to hundreds of arrests on college campuses
April 25, 2024 /
Columbia University protests
While grappling with growing protests from coast to coast, schools have the added pressure of May commencement ceremonies coming up. At Columbia University in New York, students defiantly erected an encampment where many are set to graduate in front of families in just a few weeks.
Columbia continued to negotiate with students after several failed attempts to clear the encampment and over 100 arrests in recent days.
The university averted another confrontation between students and police Wednesday. University President Minouche Shafik had set on Tuesday a midnight deadline to reach an agreement on clearing an encampment, but the school extended negotiations for another 48 hours
April 25, 2024 /
CBS/AP
Chaos erupted overnight as police tried to break up a pro-Palestinian encampment at Emerson College in Boston, the latest flashpoint in a growing movement on college campuses around the country protesting Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. Hundreds of people have been arrested in Massachusetts, Texas and California during the tense protests, following several rounds of arrests in New York in recent days.
At Emerson, 108 people were arrested and four police officers suffered injuries that were not life-threatening at the encampment, Boston police said Thursday. Those arrested were expected to appear in Boston Municipal Court.
Chaos erupted overnight as police tried to break up a pro-Palestinian encampment at Emerson College in Boston, the latest flashpoint in a growing movement on college campuses around the country protesting Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. Hundreds of people have been arrested in Massachusetts, Texas and California during the tense protests, following several rounds of arrests in New York in recent days.
At Emerson, 108 people were arrested and four police officers suffered injuries that were not life-threatening at the encampment, Boston police said Thursday. Those arrested were expected to appear in Boston Municipal Court.
Police move in to arrest pro-Palestinian supporters who were blocking the road after the Emerson College protest camp was cleared by police in Boston, Massachusetts, April 25, 2024.JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
In nearby Cambridge, Harvard University had sought to stay ahead of protests this week by limiting access to Harvard Yard and requiring permission for tents and tables. That didn't stop protesters from setting up a camp with 14 tents Wednesday following a rally against the university's suspension of the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee.
Students protesting the Israel-Hamas war are demanding schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies enabling its monthslong conflict. Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus as graduation nears, partly prompting a heavier hand from universities.
Harvard law student Tala Alfoqaha, who is Palestinian, said she and other protesters want more transparency from the university.
"My hope is that the Harvard administration listens to what its students have been asking for all year, which is divestment, disclosure and dropping any sort of charges against students," she said.
USC protests
Another 93 people were arrested Wednesday night during a protest at the University of Southern California and accused of trespassing, the Los Angeles Police Department said. There were no reports of injuries.
Tensions were already high at USC after the university canceled a planned commencement speech by the school's pro-Palestinian valedictorian, citing safety concerns. After scuffles with police early Wednesday, a few dozen demonstrators standing in a circle with locked arms were detained one by one without incident later in the evening.
Officers encircled the dwindling group sitting in defiance of an earlier warning to disperse or be arrested. Beyond the police line, hundreds of onlookers watched as helicopters buzzed overhead. The school closed the campus.
"Both sides of my family were displaced from Palestine, and I'm here using my voice because my grandparents couldn't," protester Randa Sweiss told CBS Los Angeles.
In nearby Cambridge, Harvard University had sought to stay ahead of protests this week by limiting access to Harvard Yard and requiring permission for tents and tables. That didn't stop protesters from setting up a camp with 14 tents Wednesday following a rally against the university's suspension of the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee.
Students protesting the Israel-Hamas war are demanding schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies enabling its monthslong conflict. Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus as graduation nears, partly prompting a heavier hand from universities.
Harvard law student Tala Alfoqaha, who is Palestinian, said she and other protesters want more transparency from the university.
"My hope is that the Harvard administration listens to what its students have been asking for all year, which is divestment, disclosure and dropping any sort of charges against students," she said.
USC protests
Another 93 people were arrested Wednesday night during a protest at the University of Southern California and accused of trespassing, the Los Angeles Police Department said. There were no reports of injuries.
Tensions were already high at USC after the university canceled a planned commencement speech by the school's pro-Palestinian valedictorian, citing safety concerns. After scuffles with police early Wednesday, a few dozen demonstrators standing in a circle with locked arms were detained one by one without incident later in the evening.
Officers encircled the dwindling group sitting in defiance of an earlier warning to disperse or be arrested. Beyond the police line, hundreds of onlookers watched as helicopters buzzed overhead. The school closed the campus.
"Both sides of my family were displaced from Palestine, and I'm here using my voice because my grandparents couldn't," protester Randa Sweiss told CBS Los Angeles.
University of Southern California safety officers try to disperse students protesting Israel's war in Gaza, at the school's Alumni Park in Los Angeles, California, April 24, 2024.REUTERS/ZAYDEE SANCHEZ
In Northern California, students at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, barricaded inside a building for a third day, and the school shut down campus through the weekend and made classes virtual.
UT Austin protests
At the University of Texas at Austin, hundreds of local and state police — including some on horseback and holding batons — moved against protesters Wednesday, at one point sending some tumbling into the street. Officers pushed their way into the crowd and made 34 arrests at the behest of the university and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, according to the state Department of Public Safety.
A photographer covering the demonstration for Fox 7 Austin was in the push-and-pull when an officer yanked him backward to the ground, video shows. The station confirmed that the photographer was arrested. A longtime Texas journalist was knocked down in the mayhem and could be seen bleeding before police helped him to emergency medical staff.
Dane Urquhart, a third-year Texas student, called the police presence and arrests an "overreaction," adding that the protest "would have stayed peaceful" if the officers had not turned out in force
In Northern California, students at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, barricaded inside a building for a third day, and the school shut down campus through the weekend and made classes virtual.
UT Austin protests
At the University of Texas at Austin, hundreds of local and state police — including some on horseback and holding batons — moved against protesters Wednesday, at one point sending some tumbling into the street. Officers pushed their way into the crowd and made 34 arrests at the behest of the university and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, according to the state Department of Public Safety.
A photographer covering the demonstration for Fox 7 Austin was in the push-and-pull when an officer yanked him backward to the ground, video shows. The station confirmed that the photographer was arrested. A longtime Texas journalist was knocked down in the mayhem and could be seen bleeding before police helped him to emergency medical staff.
Dane Urquhart, a third-year Texas student, called the police presence and arrests an "overreaction," adding that the protest "would have stayed peaceful" if the officers had not turned out in force
.
University of Texas police detain a man at a protest over Israel's war in Gaza at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, April 24, 2024.JAY JANNER/AUSTIN STATESMAN/USA TODAY NETWORK VIA REUTERS
"Because of all the arrests, I think a lot more (demonstrations) are going to happen," Urquhart said.
Police left after hours of efforts to control the crowd, and about 300 demonstrators moved back in to sit on the grass and chant under the school's iconic clock tower.
In a statement Wednesday night, the university's president, Jay Hartzell, said: "Our rules matter, and they will be enforced. Our University will not be occupied."
"Because of all the arrests, I think a lot more (demonstrations) are going to happen," Urquhart said.
Police left after hours of efforts to control the crowd, and about 300 demonstrators moved back in to sit on the grass and chant under the school's iconic clock tower.
In a statement Wednesday night, the university's president, Jay Hartzell, said: "Our rules matter, and they will be enforced. Our University will not be occupied."
A student stares at a row of Texas state troopers as students protest the Israel-Hamas war on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, on April 24, 2024.SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Columbia University protests
While grappling with growing protests from coast to coast, schools have the added pressure of May commencement ceremonies coming up. At Columbia University in New York, students defiantly erected an encampment where many are set to graduate in front of families in just a few weeks.
Columbia continued to negotiate with students after several failed attempts to clear the encampment and over 100 arrests in recent days.
The university averted another confrontation between students and police Wednesday. University President Minouche Shafik had set on Tuesday a midnight deadline to reach an agreement on clearing an encampment, but the school extended negotiations for another 48 hours
.
Students prepare to spend another night maintaining a protest encampment in support of Palestinians on the Columbia University campus in New York City, April 24, 2024.REUTERS/CAITLIN OCHS
On a visit to campus Wednesday, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, called on Shafik to resign "if she cannot immediately bring order to this chaos."
He claimed the university is being taken over by a radical and extreme ideology, citing several recent incidents of antisemitic language by protesters on and off campus.
"We need the National Guard, law enforcement or someone to come in here and take control," Johnson told CBS News correspondent Nancy Chen. "Desperate times call for desperate measures."
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul accused Johnson of politicizing the protest by coming to campus and said she has no plans to call in the National Guard for now.
On Wednesday evening, a Columbia spokesperson said rumors that the university had threatened to bring in the National Guard were unfounded. "Our focus is to restore order, and if we can get there through dialogue, we will," said Ben Chang, Columbia's vice president for communications.
Columbia graduate student Omer Lubaton Granot, who put up pictures of Israeli hostages near the encampment, said he wanted to remind people that there were more than 100 hostages still being held by Hamas.
"I see all the people behind me advocating for human rights," he said. "I don't think they have one word to say about the fact that people their age, that were kidnapped from their homes or from a music festival in Israel, are held by a terror organization."
On Wednesday about 60 tents remained at the Columbia encampment, which appeared calm. Security remained tight around campus, with identification required and police setting up metal barricades.
Columbia said it had reached an agreement with protest representatives that only students would remain at the encampment, and that the protesters "have taken steps to make the encampment welcome to all and have prohibited discriminatory or harassing language."
Elsewhere in Manhattan, at New York University this week, police said 133 protesters were taken into custody. And on Monday, more than 40 protesters were arrested at an encampment at Yale University in Hew Haven, Connecticut, and charged with criminal trespass, a misdemeanor.
On a visit to campus Wednesday, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, called on Shafik to resign "if she cannot immediately bring order to this chaos."
He claimed the university is being taken over by a radical and extreme ideology, citing several recent incidents of antisemitic language by protesters on and off campus.
"We need the National Guard, law enforcement or someone to come in here and take control," Johnson told CBS News correspondent Nancy Chen. "Desperate times call for desperate measures."
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul accused Johnson of politicizing the protest by coming to campus and said she has no plans to call in the National Guard for now.
On Wednesday evening, a Columbia spokesperson said rumors that the university had threatened to bring in the National Guard were unfounded. "Our focus is to restore order, and if we can get there through dialogue, we will," said Ben Chang, Columbia's vice president for communications.
Columbia graduate student Omer Lubaton Granot, who put up pictures of Israeli hostages near the encampment, said he wanted to remind people that there were more than 100 hostages still being held by Hamas.
"I see all the people behind me advocating for human rights," he said. "I don't think they have one word to say about the fact that people their age, that were kidnapped from their homes or from a music festival in Israel, are held by a terror organization."
On Wednesday about 60 tents remained at the Columbia encampment, which appeared calm. Security remained tight around campus, with identification required and police setting up metal barricades.
Columbia said it had reached an agreement with protest representatives that only students would remain at the encampment, and that the protesters "have taken steps to make the encampment welcome to all and have prohibited discriminatory or harassing language."
Elsewhere in Manhattan, at New York University this week, police said 133 protesters were taken into custody. And on Monday, more than 40 protesters were arrested at an encampment at Yale University in Hew Haven, Connecticut, and charged with criminal trespass, a misdemeanor.
Pro-Palestine movements on college campuses are facing harsh repression, and faculty across the nation are taking action in solidarity. At UT Austin, faculty are the first to call a strike in solidarity with their repressed students. More faculty across the country must follow suit.
Olivia Wood
April 25, 2024
LEFT VOICE
This action from UT Austin is incredibly important, and one that must not stop at this university. Faculty across the nation are moved to act in defense of the student movement — let us use our power as workers to do so most effectively. We are the reason the university runs, and we must grind it to a halt in the face of repression.
By JAKE OFFENHARTZ,
\Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP
Faculty from universities across the country have begun to mobilize in solidarity with the student movement for Palestine. From NYU, where faculty linked arms to protect students from police; to Columbia University, where faculty engaged in a solidarity walkout with the Gaza Solidarity Encampment; to Barnard College, where faculty planned a sick-out in defense of their students — faculty are rising up in defense of their students. At the University of Texas Austin, faculty have announced a 24-hour work stoppage as part of the fight against student repression.
The action is the first so far in which faculty are using their power as workers to halt university operations in solidarity with student protestors. They are leveraging the fact that they make the university run in order to grind it to a halt. As we noted recently, while the past few years have seen many graduate worker and contingent faculty strikes, it’s very unusual in recent decades for faculty to mobilize to this extent outside of the context of collective bargaining.
Notably, public sector workers in Texas have serious restrictions on collective bargaining, meaning they do not have the ability to organize unions and negotiate from those unions. In other words, these workers are acting as a united group without having a union. Additionally, Texas has a full ban on public sector workers engaging in work stoppages — this means faculty at UT Austin are acting together, without a union, to break the law and stop work in order to protect the student movement. This action shows that, even if workers have no current legal pathway for unionization, they can still act as a union — in fact, public sector collective bargaining rights were won through strikes like these.
UT Austin faculty released the following statement on their action:
Faculty from universities across the country have begun to mobilize in solidarity with the student movement for Palestine. From NYU, where faculty linked arms to protect students from police; to Columbia University, where faculty engaged in a solidarity walkout with the Gaza Solidarity Encampment; to Barnard College, where faculty planned a sick-out in defense of their students — faculty are rising up in defense of their students. At the University of Texas Austin, faculty have announced a 24-hour work stoppage as part of the fight against student repression.
The action is the first so far in which faculty are using their power as workers to halt university operations in solidarity with student protestors. They are leveraging the fact that they make the university run in order to grind it to a halt. As we noted recently, while the past few years have seen many graduate worker and contingent faculty strikes, it’s very unusual in recent decades for faculty to mobilize to this extent outside of the context of collective bargaining.
Notably, public sector workers in Texas have serious restrictions on collective bargaining, meaning they do not have the ability to organize unions and negotiate from those unions. In other words, these workers are acting as a united group without having a union. Additionally, Texas has a full ban on public sector workers engaging in work stoppages — this means faculty at UT Austin are acting together, without a union, to break the law and stop work in order to protect the student movement. This action shows that, even if workers have no current legal pathway for unionization, they can still act as a union — in fact, public sector collective bargaining rights were won through strikes like these.
UT Austin faculty released the following statement on their action:
This action from UT Austin is incredibly important, and one that must not stop at this university. Faculty across the nation are moved to act in defense of the student movement — let us use our power as workers to do so most effectively. We are the reason the university runs, and we must grind it to a halt in the face of repression.
Amid Campus Crackdowns, Gaza War Triggers Freedom Of Expression Crisis
Across the United States, “heads are rolling” at the top of some Ivy League universities amid a campus-wide crackdown on students protesting Israel’s war in Gaza, shining a spotlight on the question of freedom of expression worldwide, said UN Special Rapporteur Irene Khan.
“The Gaza crisis is truly becoming a global crisis of the freedom of expression,” said Ms. Khan, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. “This is going to have huge repercussions for a long time to come.”
Demonstrations around the world have been roundly calling for an end to the war, which began in October following Hamas-led attacks on Israel that left 1,200 people dead and 250 taken hostage, 133 of who remain captive in Gaza.
Since then, Israeli military operations have killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the local health ministry, which now faces a man-made famine UN agencies have said stems from Israel’s restrictions on aid deliveries.
In an exclusive interview on Wednesday, she told UN News the way academic freedom in the United States is being restricted is infringing on people’s rights to protest over the on-going war and occupation, including on campuses of such elite Ivy League schools as Colombia, Harvard and Yale universities.
“One after the another, the Ivy League heads of colleges and universities, their heads are rolling, they’ve been chopped off,” she said. “That clearly polarises even further the political climate on this issue between ‘them’ and ‘us’.”
Confusion over political views and hate speech
Pointing to a troubling rise in hate speech on both sides of the protests, she said that at the same time, people must be allowed to express their political views.
In many of these protests, she said there is a confusion between what is hate speech or incitement to violence and what is basically a different view of the situation in Israel and the occupied territories - or criticism of the way Israel is conducting the conflict.
“Legitimate speech must be protected,” she said, “but, unfortunately, there is a hysteria that is taking hold in the US.”
Criticising Israel is ‘perfectly legitimate’
Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia must be prohibited, and hate speech violates international law, she said.
“But, we must not mix that up with criticism of Israel as a political entity, as a State,” she said. “Criticising Israel is perfectly legitimate under international law.”
She said special rapporteurs have already detected a bias against pro-Palestinian supporters on social media.
“We need freedom of expression,” she said, adding that it is a fundamental right that is important for democracy, development, conflict resolution and building peace.
“If we sacrifice all that, politicising the issue and undermining the right to protest and the right to freedom of expression, then I believe we are doing a disservice for which we will pay a price,” she said. “It will be harder to negotiate if you shut down one side.”
Special Rapporteurs and other Human Rights Council-appointed experts are not UN staff and are independent from any government or organization. They serve in their individual capacity and receive no salary for their work.
Carefully planned and partly improvised: inside the Columbia protest that fueled a national movement
By JAKE OFFENHARTZ,
Associated Press
April 25, 2024
NEW YORK (AP) — Months before they pitched their tents on Columbia University's main lawn, inspiring a wave of protest encampments at college campuses nationwide, a small group of pro-Palestinian student activists met privately to sketch out the logistical details of a round-the-clock occupation.
In hours of planning sessions, they discussed communications strategies and their willingness to risk arrest, along with the more prosaic questions of bathroom access and trash removal. Then, after scouring online retailers and Craigslist for the most affordable options, they ordered the tents.
“There’s been a lot of work, a lot of meetings that went into it, and when we finally pulled it off, we had no idea how it would go,” said Columbia graduate student Elea Sun. “I don’t think anyone imagined it would take off like it did.
Inspired by the protests at Columbia, hundreds of students have set up protest encampments on at least a dozen other college campuses across the country to protest lsrael’s actions in the war with Hamas. Among other demands, they are calling for their schools to cut financial ties with Israel and the companies supporting the conflict. The protests come as universities are winding up the spring semester and preparing for graduation ceremonies.
Those involved with the Columbia protest, also known as the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” describe their organizing efforts as both meticulously planned and heavily improvised. They say the university’s aggressive tactics to quell the movement have only lent it more momentum.
Basil Rodriguez, a Columbia student affiliated with Students for Justice in Palestine, a group the university suspended in November, said organizers had been in touch with students at other schools about how to erect their own encampments. About 200 people joined one call with students on other campuses.
To attract the most news media attention, the organizers timed the Columbia encampment to coincide with university president Minouche Shafik's testimony last Wednesday to a congressional panel investigating concerns about antisemitism at elite colleges.
The following day, officers with the New York police department flooded the campus, dismantled the tents, arrested more than 100 activists, and threw out their food and water. Shafik said she had taken the “extraordinary step” of requesting police intervention because the encampment had disrupted campus life and created a “harassing and intimidating environment" for many students.
That decision fueled currents of rage that quickly washed across the country, prompting students at other college campuses to set up their own protest encampments.
“We’re standing here today because we’re inspired by the students at Columbia, who we consider to be the heart of the student movement,” Malak Afaneh, a law student and spokesperson for the 100-student-strong encampment at the University of California, Berkeley, said Tuesday.
Just hours after last week's arrests, some Columbia students jumped a fence to an adjacent lawn, wrapping themselves in blankets until a new provision of tents eventually arrived. In the week since police cleared the first encampment, the second iteration has grown not only larger, but more organized.
“The university thought they could call the police and make the protesters go away. Now we have twice as many protesters,” said Joseph Howley, an associate professor at Columbia and supporter of the encampment. “The students have experienced a ratcheting up of repression that has prompted them to escalate with their own tactics now.”
The mood was lively and upbeat on Wednesday, as some students passed out matzo left over from a Passover seder and knafeh, a flaky Middle Eastern pastry dropped off by a supportive Palestinian family from New Jersey.
Others attended a teach-in delivered by a Columbia alumnus involved in the anti-apartheid movement in the 1980s, pulled books off the shelf of a “People’s Library,” and helped themselves to art supplies from a craft table. Those who’d spent the night in one of roughly 80 tents said they used the bathrooms at nearby university buildings. (An earlier experiment with a “camp toilet” had been quickly abandoned.)
At the nearby law library, a group of negotiators representing the protesters has been meeting intermittently with university administrators since Friday to discuss their demands, as well as amnesty for students and staff facing discipline for participating in the protests.
Those talks broke down on Tuesday night, according to the lead negotiator, Mahmoud Khalil, after he said the university threatened to send in police and the National Guard if the encampment wasn’t gone by midnight. Hundreds of students and faculty quickly packed onto the lawn in the largest numbers since the start of the demonstration.
Overnight, the university backtracked, giving demonstrators a 48-hour extension if the group agreed to block nonstudents from the encampment and remove a certain number of tents. A spokesperson later denied that the university had suggested calling the National Guard.
While there have been confrontations and allegations of antisemitic activity outside the university’s gates, police described students inside the encampment as peaceful and compliant.
Organizers said they’d dismantled a few tents for fire safety reasons, but were still admitting outsiders to the encampment as long as they abided by community guidelines, including: no photographs, littering or engaging with counter-protesters. They said they had no plans to leave until their demands were met.
Opponents of the encampment say it has destabilized campus life, forcing the university to barricade many of its entrances to nonstudents while putting Jewish students in harm’s way.
Omer Lubaton Granot, a graduate student from Israel who is studying for a master's degree in public administration at Columbia, said the university should have taken “more assertive action” in clearing the encampment. He accused protesters of embracing an aggressive anti-Zionist stance that made him feel unsafe.
“They’re canceling my identity and they’re threatening me as an Israeli and as a Jew,” he said.
Officials including President Joe Biden and Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul have also condemned what they described as antisemitism associated with the protests. On Wednesday, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson held a news conference at Columbia to denounce the encampment, drawing jeers from many students.
Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, noted this week that many of the students were sleeping in the same brand of tents, which he said could indicate that “outside agitators” were responsible for arranging the encampment, a baseless claim that had earlier spread among some right-leaning news media outlets and New York police officials.
Layla Saliba, a Palestinian American graduate student at the Columbia School of Social Work, dismissed the idea. She said the students leading the protest were mostly “nerds” who enjoyed lengthy meetings and consensus building.
“To imply this is AstroTurfed or paid off, when it has actually been students laying the groundwork for this from the very beginning, is ridiculous,” she said.
As for the similarity of the tents, she said the brand had been ordered in bulk by student organizers. As the encampment has expanded, students have brought their own camping gear, she said, pointing to the varied sleeping arrangements on the bustling lawn.
“There’s apparently a lot of people here at Columbia who like to camp,” she added. “I’ll admit I was a bit surprised by that.”
___
This story has been edited to correct that Saliba is a graduate student at the Columbia School of Social Work, not a student at Barnard.
April 25, 2024|Updated April 25, 2024 2:04 p.m.
NEW YORK (AP) — Months before they pitched their tents on Columbia University's main lawn, inspiring a wave of protest encampments at college campuses nationwide, a small group of pro-Palestinian student activists met privately to sketch out the logistical details of a round-the-clock occupation.
In hours of planning sessions, they discussed communications strategies and their willingness to risk arrest, along with the more prosaic questions of bathroom access and trash removal. Then, after scouring online retailers and Craigslist for the most affordable options, they ordered the tents.
“There’s been a lot of work, a lot of meetings that went into it, and when we finally pulled it off, we had no idea how it would go,” said Columbia graduate student Elea Sun. “I don’t think anyone imagined it would take off like it did.
Inspired by the protests at Columbia, hundreds of students have set up protest encampments on at least a dozen other college campuses across the country to protest lsrael’s actions in the war with Hamas. Among other demands, they are calling for their schools to cut financial ties with Israel and the companies supporting the conflict. The protests come as universities are winding up the spring semester and preparing for graduation ceremonies.
Those involved with the Columbia protest, also known as the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” describe their organizing efforts as both meticulously planned and heavily improvised. They say the university’s aggressive tactics to quell the movement have only lent it more momentum.
Basil Rodriguez, a Columbia student affiliated with Students for Justice in Palestine, a group the university suspended in November, said organizers had been in touch with students at other schools about how to erect their own encampments. About 200 people joined one call with students on other campuses.
To attract the most news media attention, the organizers timed the Columbia encampment to coincide with university president Minouche Shafik's testimony last Wednesday to a congressional panel investigating concerns about antisemitism at elite colleges.
The following day, officers with the New York police department flooded the campus, dismantled the tents, arrested more than 100 activists, and threw out their food and water. Shafik said she had taken the “extraordinary step” of requesting police intervention because the encampment had disrupted campus life and created a “harassing and intimidating environment" for many students.
That decision fueled currents of rage that quickly washed across the country, prompting students at other college campuses to set up their own protest encampments.
“We’re standing here today because we’re inspired by the students at Columbia, who we consider to be the heart of the student movement,” Malak Afaneh, a law student and spokesperson for the 100-student-strong encampment at the University of California, Berkeley, said Tuesday.
Just hours after last week's arrests, some Columbia students jumped a fence to an adjacent lawn, wrapping themselves in blankets until a new provision of tents eventually arrived. In the week since police cleared the first encampment, the second iteration has grown not only larger, but more organized.
“The university thought they could call the police and make the protesters go away. Now we have twice as many protesters,” said Joseph Howley, an associate professor at Columbia and supporter of the encampment. “The students have experienced a ratcheting up of repression that has prompted them to escalate with their own tactics now.”
The mood was lively and upbeat on Wednesday, as some students passed out matzo left over from a Passover seder and knafeh, a flaky Middle Eastern pastry dropped off by a supportive Palestinian family from New Jersey.
Others attended a teach-in delivered by a Columbia alumnus involved in the anti-apartheid movement in the 1980s, pulled books off the shelf of a “People’s Library,” and helped themselves to art supplies from a craft table. Those who’d spent the night in one of roughly 80 tents said they used the bathrooms at nearby university buildings. (An earlier experiment with a “camp toilet” had been quickly abandoned.)
At the nearby law library, a group of negotiators representing the protesters has been meeting intermittently with university administrators since Friday to discuss their demands, as well as amnesty for students and staff facing discipline for participating in the protests.
Those talks broke down on Tuesday night, according to the lead negotiator, Mahmoud Khalil, after he said the university threatened to send in police and the National Guard if the encampment wasn’t gone by midnight. Hundreds of students and faculty quickly packed onto the lawn in the largest numbers since the start of the demonstration.
Overnight, the university backtracked, giving demonstrators a 48-hour extension if the group agreed to block nonstudents from the encampment and remove a certain number of tents. A spokesperson later denied that the university had suggested calling the National Guard.
While there have been confrontations and allegations of antisemitic activity outside the university’s gates, police described students inside the encampment as peaceful and compliant.
Organizers said they’d dismantled a few tents for fire safety reasons, but were still admitting outsiders to the encampment as long as they abided by community guidelines, including: no photographs, littering or engaging with counter-protesters. They said they had no plans to leave until their demands were met.
Opponents of the encampment say it has destabilized campus life, forcing the university to barricade many of its entrances to nonstudents while putting Jewish students in harm’s way.
Omer Lubaton Granot, a graduate student from Israel who is studying for a master's degree in public administration at Columbia, said the university should have taken “more assertive action” in clearing the encampment. He accused protesters of embracing an aggressive anti-Zionist stance that made him feel unsafe.
“They’re canceling my identity and they’re threatening me as an Israeli and as a Jew,” he said.
Officials including President Joe Biden and Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul have also condemned what they described as antisemitism associated with the protests. On Wednesday, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson held a news conference at Columbia to denounce the encampment, drawing jeers from many students.
Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, noted this week that many of the students were sleeping in the same brand of tents, which he said could indicate that “outside agitators” were responsible for arranging the encampment, a baseless claim that had earlier spread among some right-leaning news media outlets and New York police officials.
Layla Saliba, a Palestinian American graduate student at the Columbia School of Social Work, dismissed the idea. She said the students leading the protest were mostly “nerds” who enjoyed lengthy meetings and consensus building.
“To imply this is AstroTurfed or paid off, when it has actually been students laying the groundwork for this from the very beginning, is ridiculous,” she said.
As for the similarity of the tents, she said the brand had been ordered in bulk by student organizers. As the encampment has expanded, students have brought their own camping gear, she said, pointing to the varied sleeping arrangements on the bustling lawn.
“There’s apparently a lot of people here at Columbia who like to camp,” she added. “I’ll admit I was a bit surprised by that.”
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This story has been edited to correct that Saliba is a graduate student at the Columbia School of Social Work, not a student at Barnard.
April 25, 2024|Updated April 25, 2024 2:04 p.m.
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